


Little Kitten, Little Cub.

by Strickens



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Cute, F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, Past, kid adora, kid catra, origins of catra sleeping at Adora's feet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:55:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24695629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strickens/pseuds/Strickens
Summary: The Fright Zone was a dark place. A terrifying place. Catra is scared of the sounds she hears at night. Adora has a nightmare.
Relationships: Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 94





	Little Kitten, Little Cub.

**Author's Note:**

> My wife wanted to know the origins of Catra sleeping at Adora's feet so I came up with this little story for her. I hope you enjoy it as much as she did! <3

_The Fright Zone was no place for children._ That's what the villagers always told themselves, it's what they warned their children of when putting them to bed of a night, telling them terrifying stories of the Horde and its soldiers to keep their little ones from running off on adventures.

And it was. At the heart of it. Perhaps even more so than the harrowing stories hushed in whispers. But it was a lived story, one full of monsters and men and endless screams in the middle of the night. It was cuts and bruises and just barely enough rations to sustain a life.

They were just kids. _Little ones_. Catra didn't know anything outside of these murky grey and green walls and the hum of vents as they pushed recycled air throughout the facility. It was the sound of steel capped boots crashing through the halls while an emergency siren wailed and flashed red just barely visible under the crack of the door that sent her little ears flattening to her head and her thin blanket bundled more tightly around her.

The little kitten shivered as the sound of running soldiers tapered off into the distance, hiding herself away until eventually the sound of the sirens fell silent. She let out a soft breath, a little high pitched sob as she peered around in the darkness.

Pupils dilated fully she could make out the shape of the other children in their bunks seemingly fast asleep. She really needed to try and get back to sleep, but her hackles were raised and she couldn't shake the fear and anxiety that had settled itself under her skin.

Looking to her right she watched her best friend Adora in the bunk beside her, sleeping peacefully with a mop of messy blonde hair almost completely obscuring her features. Her mouth was open as she breathed quietly, the little empty gap where one of her baby teeth had fallen out visible.

Catra snickered quietly to herself. _Adora had such a dumb face! Such a dumb... dumb...._

Her breath caught in her throat as Adora let out a small whimper in her sleep, her brow furrowing just so while she tucked her legs up closer to herself. A low rumble and the sound of distant explosions somewhere miles away sent shivers down Catra's spine, her highly sensitive ears twitching and pinning back against her head. Adora whimpered again, as if sensing the sounds and the terror of war despite the fact that her human ears could never pick it up from so far away. It was like she _felt_ it.

Catra's face resolved into a frown of concern, her own fears becoming a voice in the background as she watched her friend. _Alone. Scared. Helpless._

Shaking her head, she threw the blanket off she had cocooned herself in and slipped off the edge of her bed. She almost squealed as her feet came into contact with the cold, steel floor, but she held it in and crept over to Adora's bed.

Reaching the side of her bunk, Catra wrapped her arms tightly around herself, the thin layer of fuzz over her skin doing little to insulate from their cold surroundings.

“Adora?” She whispered, her voice sounding far away. Unsure.

Still, the blonde girl didn't rouse. Instead Adora whimpered again, this time fighting with her blanket before violently tossing onto her other side. It was as if she was fighting in her sleep, an unseen enemy that threatened her small form and those big blue eyes that were always so full of life.

Momentarily Catra considered turning back to her bed and leaving the girl, shifting her weight onto her right foot as she was about to follow through when a small noise made it through the night air and prickled the hairs on her neck.

“Catra?”

The sound was so small and innocent, cautious yet hopeful. For a moment Catra thought the girl had woken up, but she was still facing away from her, her chest rising and falling in a steady and slow rhythm.

Catra was stuck between the two beds, her heart reaching in two directions. Once towards her bed and blanket that offered her safety, the other to her friend who called to her in her sleep.

Finally she unfurled from herself, turning back towards Adora's bed and lowering herself down onto the hard mattress. She sat there, rocked back on her heels for a few minutes behind Adora's legs as she watched the girl sleeping. There was a small scrape across the blonde's cheek where she had had a fight with Lonnie earlier that afternoon, the two fighting over who got to use the wooden broadsword until Lonnie tugged so hard that poor Adora had fallen face first onto the concrete floor.

Catra's tail twitched at the memory. Her hands reached out, grabbing the offending body part and hugging it close to her body.

She sat like that for a while longer until she felt her eyelids starting to grow heavier and heavier. She almost fell backwards out of the bed, catching herself before she managed to and flicking her eyes quickly back to Adora to make sure she hadn't woke.

She didn't want to leave, but she was getting sleepy again. The distant sounds of violence had faded away some time ago, and just being in proximity to her friend helped to ease her anxiety.

It was a small bed. But Catra was small too.

She managed to curl herself up into a tight ball near Adora's feet, unaware of the girl shifting to make more room for her in her sleep. She was only vaguely aware of a feeling of warmth and safety as she finally fell into a dreamless sleep.

~~

“Catra?”

She wasn't sure of how much time had passed- the soft voice of Adora bringing her out of her slumber- but she was warmer than usual and felt rested, so it could have been the entire night she'd slept for except for the fact that the lack of windows in the room offered no way to tell.

Looking up from where she was curled up behind Adora's legs, she saw her friend looking down at her. Her big blue eyes were still bleary with sleep, but there was a dorky little smile pulling at her lips that made Catra's cheeks warm.

Turning her head away to hide her blush, she sat up and pulled her knees up to her chest in a protective motion.

There was a moment of quiet between them before Catra became aware of movement, followed by the warmth of a hand on her shoulder. Part of her wanted to pull away or shove the girl off, but instead she just sat there. Waiting.

“It's okay.”

Adora's voice was soft and small, but something about it made her want to look; so she did.

She was rewarded with a kind smile and a little kid just like herself seeking some sort of comfort in a place that they had to accept as their home. Catra sniffed, an ear twitching.

“I-” she paused, swallowing and looking away, hugging her legs tighter. “I heard sounds and I got scared.”

A beat passed before Adora's reply came. “I get scared sometimes too.”

Then there was more warmth as her friend wrapped her in a hug from behind, arms around her shoulders and her breath tickling her ear and making it twitch again. They sat like that for a little while, Catra reaching up to grasp onto Adora's arms as though it was the only thing keeping her afloat.

“We don't have to be scared as long as we have each other!” Adora proclaimed, giving Catra one last squeeze and letting her go, allowing her to turn and fully face her.

Catra peered up at her, that big dumb smile somehow making a matching one creep onto her own face.

“Yeah.” She agreed, her cheeks warming again as Adora giggled and reached forwards, ruffling the mess of hair on her head.

The morning bell for breakfast broke their moment, the fluorescent lights overhead crackling and flickering before coming on fully, illuminating the two young friends where they sat together in Adora's bed. Catra looked around as the kids in the other bunks started to slowly wake and get ready for the day. She shot Adora a sideways look, a mischievous grin spreading onto her lips and revealing her fangs.

“Wanna' race to breakfast?”

The moment the challenge went out Adora's face set into a matching grin, hands balling into fists as she pumped them into the air and threw the blanket off. “You're on!”

The two erupted into fits of laughter as they raced to the lockers to get changed, nudging and bumping each other along the way and stopping every so often to play fight.

The Fright Zone was no place for children, but Catra knew she would never be afraid again, as long as her and Adora were together.

~


End file.
